Spice Shelf Organization + Giveaway

As I’ve mentioned before, I love to cook and try out new recipes. I typically cook five dinners a week and try to make at least one of those meals with a new recipe. That being said, I end up buying a lot of different spices to use in all these recipes.  At first it wasn’t a big deal, but eventually my spice shelf ended up looking like this:

Trying to find a specific spice in there is quite the challenge. Plus I could never see what was all in there, so I ended up buying spices I already had (such a waste of money). Seriously, this is not an efficient system.

So when the people at Spicy Shelf contacted me about trying their product, I jumped at the chance to get this shelf organized. The Spicy Shelf is a stackable organizer that increases usable storage space and makes everything easily visible, which is exactly what this shelf needs. 

I started by pulling everything out of the cabinet. I combined duplicates and threw out a few expired bottles, which left me with all of these:

While my shelf was empty, I started assembling the Spicy Shelf. Assembly is really easy and no tools are required – everything just snaps into place. The shelves expand to fit different sized cabinets, so they work with narrow and wide cabinets. My cabinet is pretty large so I had to place mine side-by-side, but you can also stack them if you have a smaller cabinet. I also chose to use the legs included with the shelf, but you can also install the shelves using shelf pins.

Once my new shelves were installed I started adding back my spices. I organized everything by brand/jar, but I’m wondering if alphabetical would be easier? Although, for the most part, I remember which spice is in which jar, so that might be quicker than reciting the alphabet to find where the Italian Seasoning should be. Hmm, I’m still debating that one…

Anyway, after putting all of my spices back in the cabinet, I ended up with this organized beauty! Everything fits perfectly and I can actually read each label!

So although this product was provided to me for review, I’d honestly recommend it and say it’s worth the $19.95 price tag. You could even use it to organize nail polish or craft supplies! 

If you would like to order your own Spicy Shelf, you can use promo code SPICE5 to save $5. Or you can enter the giveaway below and win one! Open to anyone in the continental US (must have street address, no PO boxes), please use the Rafflecopter widget to enter!


 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wine Glass Storage

I don’t know how people live with kitchens that don’t have upper cabinets. I see all of these beautiful kitchens on blogs and Pinterest that don’t have upper cabinets or they just have a couple small shelves with decorative items...where do they put all of their dishes and glasses? Or do they not really use the kitchen? I don’t get it. 

 

(source)

We have a couple upper cabinets in our kitchen, but I’ve always wished for more space. Three years later I finally figured out a solution to free up almost an entire shelf. 

An under-cabinet wine glass holder!
 
I found this one on Amazon for $11.65, but if you are handy, you could probably build one yourself. On second thought, just spend the $11.65 and save yourself the time/effort. 

It was pretty simple to install - just a little measuring and drilling. I wanted to hang them the other direction, but they were too long to fit under the cabinet that way. I could have cut them down, but then I’d only be able to fit four glasses instead of six. Plus they fit under the cabinet perfectly this direction, so it was meant to be.  

Of course I had to celebrate a successful project with a glass of wine! 

Kitchen After…For Now

I still have a couple projects left on my kitchen to-do list, but I’m ready to call the room finished for now. It looks significantly better than the rest of the house, so it’s time to move on and share the love with other rooms.

As a reminder, this is what the kitchen looked like when I bought the house. This was taken during the home inspection:

Before I moved in I bought a new dishwasher and my parents bought me a refrigerator as a housewarming gift. Eventually I replaced the microwave and did a little decorating. This is what the kitchen looked like before I decided to focus on decorating/finishing the kitchen:

Back in February I created this mood board to help me focus my ideas and create a cohesive looking room (one of the things I always struggle with):

Three months later I’m ready to present the After…For Now pictures:

I still need to tile the backsplash, update the kitchen artwork, create a new sign for above the sink (to replace the bon appétit sign), and add some more finishing touches (potholders, towels, etc). Oh, and I decided not to add the “eat” sign (I didn’t really have anywhere to hang it), so that’s been removed from the to-do list.

Now let’s talk about everything on the list that I did finish, plus links and the budget breakdown:

Add hardware to kitchen cabinets

Package of 10 Knobs $22.26 x 2

Single Knob $2.97 x 3

Drawer Pull $4.97 x 6

Knob/Pull Hole Guide$7.47

Replace stove (stainless steel) $622.63 - $17.13 (Ebates cash back)

Replace faucet $121.45
Update menu board $2.17 x 2
Re-pot plants $11.96 x 2

Add herb garden to window sill  
Small Pot $1.29 x 5
Small Saucer $0.89 x5
Craft Paint $0.33 x 3
Herb Plant $3.48 x 5
Set of Herb Markers $14.00

Sew new faux roman shades

Gray/White Striped Fabric $36.20

Heat n Bond $2.40 x 2

Buy rug $38.00

Owl Crock $5.75

Bamboo Utensils $4.97

Oil/Vinegar Bottles$2.99 x 2  

Fruit Bowl $9.58

Cow Creamer $5.48

Total $999.98

Not bad considering 60% of that is the new oven! After finishing the remaining projects and offsetting that by however much I sell my old oven for (still haven’t listed it on Craigslist) I should still be around the $1000-$1200 mark.

And with that I’m ready to call this project done…for now!

Fancy New Kitchen Faucet

A couple months ago I mentioned that I had one kitchen project left and then I was going to move on to another room. I still want to add a backsplash and update the artwork, but for now I’m done working on the kitchen.

The last project I wanted to get done before calling it quits was installing a new faucet. I forgot to take a proper before picture, but you can see my old faucet in this picture:

It looked a lot like this one:

It worked fine, but I hated the two knobs (as opposed to one lever) and it didn’t have a sprayer - plus it looked cheap. After searching around, I decided that I wanted one of those faucets with the pull out spray head…until I realized they are like $200! There was no way I was going to spend that much on a kitchen faucet, but I lucked out and a couple weeks later Overstock.com had a sale on select faucets – 10%-off plus there was a 10%-off coupon that you could use on top of the promotional discount!

I’d been eyeing this Kraus single lever, pull out kitchen faucet (in satin nickel) for a couple weeks because it had great reviews and the price was somewhat reasonable (before the discounts). After the discounts it was a steal for that type of faucet, so I jumped on the deal.

And then it just sat in the box on the kitchen counter for a couple months (you can see the delivery date was March 7^th). I finally convinced my boyfriend to install it for me last week…and I’m completely in love (with my boyfriend and the faucet).

Not only is it 100x more functional, it makes the kitchen look more updated!  Seriously, doesn’t the entire room look so much more modern with the new faucet?!

I don’t have any installation tips for you guys because my boyfriend did it while I was at work, but he said it was pretty easy and only took about 30 minutes. We’ve only been using the faucet for about a week and a half, but so far I’m completely happy with my purchase and would recommend it to anyone looking for this type of kitchen faucet.

And with that, I only have a few items left on the kitchen to-do list. I’m hoping to find some new potholders and towels this weekend, so I can share some “after…for now” pictures of the kitchen next week.

To-Do List:

Add hardware to kitchen cabinets

Add backsplash

Replace stove (stainless steel)

Replace faucet

Update kitchen artwork

Update menu board

Create “Eat” sign

Re-pot plants

Add herb garden to window sill

Sew new faux roman shades

Create sign for above sink (to replace bon appétit sign)

Buy rug

Add accessories: potholders, towels, bamboo utensils/crock, oil/vinegar bottles

Updated Menu Board

My menu board has been in need of an update even before the kitchen makeover began. When I first made it I just grabbed a couple random pieces of scrapbook paper, some sticker letters and threw it all together. It’s actually one of my favorite projects and I use it for meal planning every week, so it deserves to look its best.

I started the makeover by spray painting the frame white. I used some leftover Krylon Paint + Primer from my stash to give the frame a new look. I think I'm going to paint the picture stand white too, but I haven't done that yet.

Instead of making a new menu insert, I found this free menu printable from Smitten on Paper:

(source)

I love the design, but I did have to change the orientation (landscape instead of portrait) and crop it to fit my frame (8x10). I had it printed at Walgreens – actually I had to have it printed twice because the first time I sized the menu design too small (whoops!). Luckily they were having a 50%-off enlargements sale when I ordered both prints, so my mistake only cost me $2 instead of $4.   

Anyway, here’s my new menu board:

All of the white doesn't photograph nearly as good as it looks in person...Anyway, you might also notice that I bought matching oil and vinegar bottles. I think it looks better than the mismatched store bottles that were there before. I found them at Michael’s – they were $4.99/each, but were on sale for 40%-off, so I only paid $3/each.

That corner of the kitchen is now complete...and for only about $10!

To-Do List:

Add hardware to kitchen cabinets

Add backsplash

Replace stove (stainless steel)

Replace faucet

Update kitchen artwork

Update menu board

Create “Eat” sign

Re-pot plants

Add herb garden to window sill

Sew new faux roman shades

Create sign for above sink (to replace bon appétit sign)

Buy rug

Add accessories: potholders, towels, bamboo utensils/crock, oil/vinegar bottles

Dash & Albert Rug + An Owl

Yep, another kitchen post…I swear I have other projects coming up, but I’m trying to stick with one room instead of my usual design A.D.D. Anyway, today I want to show you my new kitchen rug! It’s actually the only rug in the house and the first quality rug I’ve ever purchased.

The rug I originally had in my kitchen mood board was charcoal gray, but after some thought, I decided to find a rug with a pop of color instead. The curtains, countertops, and appliances are all gray-ish, so I thought a gray rug might be too much gray. Plus the room was due for some more color.  

After a lot of searching and price comparing, I ended up buying this Dash & Albert diamond print rug in canary. It’s an indoor/outdoor rug, so it can be cleaned with a hose. Ringo and Abby always hang out in the kitchen with me while I cook, so that was a big selling point. If you look close you can already see dirt marks.

I’ll be honest, I hated the color when I first saw it – I was hoping for mustard, but it was more marigold. My mom suggested that I use it anyway and give it a couple days before deciding to return it…especially since I’d have to pay return postage and a 25% restocking fee (I’d only end up getting about $20 back). As you can probably tell, the color grew on me and I’m happy with my rug purchase now. It makes the room look happier (and makes my feet feel happier).

Speaking of, I have another fun purchase to share today: my new utensil holder. I saw this owl at Michael’s and  thought it would make a fun utensil holder – better than a plain crock. It was 40%-off plus I had a coupon for an additional 20%-off, so I only paid a few dollars for it. The bamboo utensils are from Wal-Mart.

Here you can see my new rug and owl utensil holder (and sweet Abby). I still have a few projects left, but I love how it’s turning out. It’s definitely more “me” than any of the other rooms in the house.

To-Do List:

Add hardware to kitchen cabinets

Add backsplash

Replace stove (stainless steel)

Replace faucet

Update kitchen artwork

Update menu board

Create “Eat” sign

Re-pot plants

Add herb garden to window sill

Sew new faux roman shades

Create sign for above sink (to replace bon appétit sign)

Buy rug

Add accessories: potholders, towels, bamboo utensils/crock, oil/vinegar bottles

More Plants!

Oh man! Two plant projects in a row!

As you saw in my herb garden post, I have two other plants on my kitchen counter. Both plants started off elsewhere in the house, but ended up here because of the great light. The plant in the yellow pot was only a few inches tall and only had about 5 leaves before I moved it here. The other plant was virtually dead before I moved it to the counter. Look at it now!

Because they both came from different areas of the house, they had different pots. The yellow pot is from Hobby Lobby and the white one is from IKEA.

I wanted to get matching pots for the plants so it looks like they actually belong together. I have a big pop of color planned for another spot in the kitchen, so I wanted to keep it pretty neutral. I figured white pots would work best. I love IKEA’s white pots, but they don’t have any drainage holes (I never have luck with pots without drainage). The IKEA pot in the picture above actually has three holes drilled into the bottom plus the plastic drainage dish. Anyway, I found these pots at Wal-Mart for about $12 each. I already had potting soil, so this was a pretty cheap change.  

This poor guy is a little wilted because I didn’t water him on Sunday like usual. I was planning on repotting them that day, but ended up doing it three days later…Don’t worry, he perked up later in the night.

Here they are together with my herb garden. I love how green and fresh this area looks. Plants really do add life to a space!

And with that, another project crossed off the to-do list:

To-Do List:

Add hardware to kitchen cabinets

Add backsplash

Replace stove (stainless steel)

Replace faucet

Update kitchen artwork

Update menu board

Create “Eat” sign

Re-pot plants

Add herb garden to window sill

Sew new faux roman shades

Create sign for above sink (to replace bon appétit sign)

Buy rug

Add accessories: potholders, towels, bamboo utensils/crock, oil/vinegar bottles

Painted Pots + Herb Garden

It’s time for another Pinterest Challenge!

Since I’m currently in kitchen mode, I figured I’d work on a kitchen-related pin…and because all of my other Pinterest Challenge projects have been artwork. Anyway, I’ve wanted to plant a vegetable/herb garden in our backyard since I moved in 2 years ago. Unfortunately I gave up on that idea after we got Ringo the Destroyer.  

And then one day I realized - I can plant an herb garden in my window sill…duh! I get my herb garden and Ringo can’t reach it – win for me!

I wanted to get light blue pots to go with my canisters, but couldn’t find any that were the right size and/or had drainage dishes. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve never had luck with pots that don’t have a hole for drainage. Anyway, after I couldn’t find what I was looking for (story of my life), I turned to Pinterest and was inspired by all of the painted pot projects I had on my DIY board.

(source via Pinterest)

(source via Pinterest)

I started with plain terra cotta pots from Michael’s (but you can find them anywhere) - they were about $2 per pot/drain dish set. I wanted to fill up my window, so I bought five sets. I painted them with CraftSmart Robin’s Egg Blue acrylic paint. It took three coats and about 3 bottles of paint to get all five painted. I’m a little worried about how the paint will hold up since I didn’t prep or seal the pots - I didn’t want to add any extra chemicals since we’ll be eating the herbs. I guess we’ll see…

(Edited 2/19/14: Be sure to prime or seal your pots before painting them! The wet soil ended up staining the paint and I had to repaint all of my pots. I used primer that I had leftover from painting the bedrooms, then painted another coat of blue. The paint is holding up so much better now.)

I’m too impatient for seeds, so I bought herb plants at Lowes - they were about $3 each. I chose rosemary, basil, parsley, oregano and thyme (I actually wanted chives instead of thyme, but they chive plants looked dead). I planted them in my painted pots after letting the paint dry for about 24 hours. Hopefully the plants…and the pots survive!

I love the pop of color in the window! I originally planned to color block (like my inspiration pin) or embellish the pots in some way, but ended up deciding that color blocking/embellishing x5 might be too much. I might change my mind at some point, but for now I love the simple blue. 

Wellll, I guess there is still a little embellishing to be done – I was going to DIY some herb markers, but I found a set in an Etsy shop that I couldn’t pass up. They had the best prices by far and were willing to customize the silverware with the herb names I needed. I ordered them on Sunday, so they haven’t arrived yet, but I’ll update y’all when they do. 

(source)

And with that, another project is crossed off my kitchen to-do list!

To-Do List:

Add hardware to kitchen cabinets

Add backsplash

Replace stove (stainless steel)

Replace faucet

Update kitchen artwork

Update menu board

Create “Eat” sign

Re-pot plants

Add herb garden to window sill

Sew new faux roman shades

Create sign for above sink (to replace bon appétit sign)

Buy rug

Add accessories: potholders, towels, bamboo utensils/crock, oil/vinegar bottles

Don't forget to check out Katie, Sherry, Michelle, and Megan's Pinterest Challenge projects! Plus you can link up your own (or check out everyone else's projects) on any of their posts.  

White and Gray (Faux) Roman Shades

I’m back with another kitchen project! Seriously, that mood board I put together was the best inspiration! I’m going to put one together for every room project from now on. I love being able to see all of my ideas together before I actually start buying and DIY-ing!

Anywhooo…

I you might remember that last year I made faux roman shades for my kitchen windows.

I still love the fabric (although my boyfriend hates it), but I didn’t like the fabric with my new canisters and design plan for the kitchen.

So, I decided to replace the bold fabric with a more neutral gray and white striped fabric. I found this one for $7.50/yard. I ordered a swatch and loved it in person, so I ordered 4 yards. I asked my boyfriend what he thought of the fabric and he said “It’s better than that ugly stuff that’s up now.” So we’ll call that a win!

I used iron-on hem tape to “sew” the sides and bottom of the shades. However, I did sew the top rod pocket because I thought it would hold better and last longer. I used the same tension rod method as before, so this ended up being a pretty quick update.  For detailed iron-on hem tape instructions, check out YHL’s step by step post here. My only advice would be to make sure the steam is off and make sure you don’t iron the tape too much – it makes it hard and won’t stick correctly.

Multiply that by three and you have this:

I love them and I’m so happy with my kitchen progress! I hope you aren’t sick of seeing my kitchen because my other 2 posts scheduled for this week are also kitchen projects.

To-Do List:

Add hardware to kitchen cabinets

Add backsplash

Replace stove (stainless steel)

Replace faucet

Update kitchen artwork

Update menu board

Create “Eat” sign

Re-pot plants

Add herb garden to window sill

Sew new faux roman shades

Create sign for above sink (to replace bon appétit sign)

Buy rug

Add accessories: potholders, towels, bamboo utensils/crock, oil/vinegar bottles